May he rest in Peace forever

There have been very few actors who have made me believe in just one movie that they are on their way to becoming screen legends. Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain was one of them. Ennis was a character of few words. Conflicted not because he had emotional scars, he was conflicted because he couldn’t have the freedom to love by choice. He was caught in a time where there were rules about who a man could fall in love with. He was a man of few words and in Heath Ledger he found a face, a voice and a soul. The performance was so remarkable that I completely forgot that I was only watching an actor and they say this is the best compliment you can give to an actor. As he watches Jack’s shirt over his own at the end of the movie we can actually see those remarkable eyes brimming with such love and longing. In Christopher Nolan’s (and let’s not forget his brother Jonathan here) Dark Knight, he is silent no more. He also doesn’t have love or for that matter any traces of humanity. As he expounds his theory of Chaos we realize that this is no one dimensional character. This is flesh and blood and a soul that has been disfigured beyond recognition and I’m not talking about the scars on his face. I was looking forward to this performance for so long now and yet when I watched him I forgot he was Heath Ledger, I really and truly did. What a remarkable actor. He once said “If something is not worth throwing your life into it’s simply not worth it”. He was talking about the roles he was playing and how he gets so obsessed with them. He had just started getting the good ones and he won’t be getting any more of them.
What a remarkable movie!! Where do you begin with a movie like this? So many ideas and Nolan is not just satisfied with hinting at them, he explores each one of them. So many super-hero movies in the past have begun with a lovely idea and then gone back to exploding cars and out of control aeroplanes. But not here. When I watched Batman Begins I was finally happy that my favorite super-hero was in safe hands. Batman is not a super-hero. He is just an unbelievably rich man who is so conflicted with his past that instead of brooding over what he has lost (which he does anyway) he decides to change things around him. In Batman Begins we saw him living among the scum of society, the underbelly so to speak and try to learn a criminal’s mind. We see him make the choice of trying to save Gotham City rather than destroy it. He is no boy scout (thank god for that), nor is he one of those who sacrifices everything for the greater good. And in Nolan’s hands this amazingly rich character finds life. Oh and of course everytime Christian Bale even breathes you believe that no man has ever deserved that bat suit more. The amazing thing about Dark Knight is that there is nothing here, no opportunity or chance that was wasted. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, those rare species of actors who can do wonders with even the driest of lines are used so well here. Aaron Eckhart, an actor who I didn't think much of, shows me again how ignorant I am about the true talents in Hollywood and how a master craftsman(read Nolan) always uses the best tools at his disposal. Gary Oldman, oh why haven’t I seen more movies of his and why did they not use him more in Harry Potter movies. See, some directors know how to use actors and write for them and not just for the main guys. It’s so much more entertaining when you have more characters to remember. And thank God we had Maggie instead of Katie (A good craftsman always corrects his previous mistakes). Then there are the action sequences which are not mindless but so refreshing and entertaining. The two ships on the sea with the inhabitants facing a moral dilemma was pure and unbridled class. The truck chase on the batpod (is it just me or the pod looks so much cooler than the bat mobile). And then there are scenes with the joker in there. The agent of chaos. He is evil not because he can kill people with a pencil or slit them open with a knife. This man is evil because he knows that the best way to destroy a man is to destroy his morality first. Make a good man make impossible decisions and make him live with regrets and he would beg you to slit him open with the knife. “Kill you? I don’t want to kill you. What would I do without you? You complete me”, he says to Batman. And truly, the Joker completes the movie. Ledger moves, talks, sucks on the insides of his mouth, licks his lips, wields his knife and laughs that venomous laugh as noone else in history. The movie asks so many questions that it is tough to believe that this is a comic book movie. Our world with rules, justice and morals and all put to test if we have to make impossible choices. The tragedy rivals Shakespeare, the intensity rivals Dostoevsky and the beauty; yes the beauty rivals a Mozart symphony. Dark Knight truly is an all time Masterpiece and Heath Ledger is truly a Legend……